Counter-board and method of preparing the same.



pron.

ALBERT L. CLAIP, OF BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 HIDE-1TB LEATHER COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

COUNTER-BOARD AND METHOD OF PREPARING THE SAME.

No Drawing.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT L. Curr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Braintree, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Counter-Boards and Methods of Preparing the Same, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to an improved counter-board and the method of preparing the same.

The main object of the invention is to produce a board which may be readily molded and which is likewise substantially waterproof.

The process by which such board is produced is substantially as follows: Leather scrap, for example four hundred pounds, of any kind, but preferably that grade known in the trade as hard leather scrap, is subjected to the action of caustic soda, using, say, from fifty to sixty pounds thereof, with the quantity of leather just mentioned, together with sufficient water to cause the soda to act upon the leather. The mass or charge is thoroughly intermingled in a heated mixer of any approved type, the caustic soda attacking the leather and dissolving the same. Any substance which has the equivalent action upon the leather as soda may be substituted therefor in carrying out this process Preferably while the leather scrap is being thus treated I form the body or fiber-stock for the board, the same being produ'ced from waste paper or cellulose, but preferably from Manila waste paper. A charge of approximately eight hundred and fifty pounds (for the proportions of other ingredients herein set forth) is loaded into a beater, together with sufiicient water to allow the stock to circulate and to be properly beaten out, the Manila scrap producing a good, strong fiber. As soon as the paperstock begins to soften and separate, the leather solution is added, and the mass is thoroughly intermixed. lVhen this mixing is completed, and the stock is nearing its desired degree of fineness, I introduce a charge of rosin size, say, one hundred pounds. After this is thoroughly intermingled with the other materials, there is added from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds of aluminum sulfate, and the beating is continued until the desired Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.,

Application filed December 23, 1914. Serial No. 878,805.

degree of fineness is obtained. The mass is then formed into sheets, dried, and preferably calendered, after which it is ready to be molded into counters or employed for any other suitable purpose. In practice it has been found especially suitable for counters, as the board is tough, firm and readily molded, and furthermore is waterproof. The addition of alum (or other suitable precipitating agent) to the charge causes the dissolved leather, or leather solution, and the rosin size to be precipitated upon the fibers of the stock as an insoluble compound, the rosin, moreover, imparting to the board that degree of stiffness requisite to the production of a good counter.

It is conceivable, that in so far as the generic invention is concerned, any size or sizing compound which will impart the requisite stiffness to the board, may be employed in lieu of rosin size, as for instance, casein size. So, too, I do not desire to limit myself to the proportions above stated, though in practice these have proven highly efficient.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The process of producing a substantially waterproof and stiff fiber-board, which consists in intermingling with a mass of fibrous material a charge of leather dissolved in an alkali; adding a size; precipitating the size and dissolved leather upon the fibers of the mass; and finally producing board therefrom.

2. The process of producing a substantially waterproof and relatively stiff fiberboard. which consists in beating out a mass of Manila paper; subjecting a batch of leather to the action of caustic soda; adding the solution thus formed to the mass being beaten out; then adding a suitable size; thereafter precipitating the size and dissolved leather upon the fibrous mass; and finally producing board therefrom.

3. The process of producing a substantially waterproof and relatively stifi' fiberboard. which consists in beating out a mass of Manila paper; subjecting a batch of leather to the action of caustic soda and adding the solution thus formed to the mass being beaten out; then adding rosin size; thereafter adding alum to precipitate the leather in solution, and said size, the entire charge being thoroughly intermingled; and

finally forming the material thus produced into board.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a relatively stiff and Waterproof board suitable for the production of counters, comprising a body composed mainly of beaten-out Manila fiber having deposited upon the fibers a rosin size, and a body precipitated from a solution of leather in caustic soda.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a relatively stiff and Waterproof board suitable for the production of counters, comprising a body composed mainly of cellulose fibers, said fibers being coated with a precipitated rosin size, and a body precipitated from 15 ALBERT L. CLAPP.

Witnesses DANIEL E. BROWN, DELLA E. GAMMON. 

